Dragon Age: The Rise Of Peril
by Windrises
Summary: Cassandra had become the leader of the knights and the kingdom's greatest protector. However, a new knight gets hired, leading to Cassandra getting demoted.


Note: Funimation's Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker is an anime film based on the Dragon Age video-game series. This story is primarily based on the film, rather than the video-games.

Cassandra Pentaghast had become the kingdom's main protector. If any force of evil dared to reek their reign of vengeance upon the land, Cassandra would show up and stop them. Several villains had tried to take over, but every single of them failed to make much of an impact.

Although Cassandra had always been respected among her peers, she used to get the same level of respect, that the other knights got. However, as time went on, it was practically impossible to deny that Cassandra was the greatest knight of them all. She was the first and only one of the kingdom's knights, who had won wars, without a single bit of help. Such a thing was considered to be impossible, but making impossibilities become a reality, is one of Cassandra's dreams.

One day, Cassandra was in one of the training rooms. She was sharpening her sword, while Regalyan D'Marcall entered the room. Regalyan was a young man, who was around Cassandra's age. He and Cassandra had fought in battles together and had become close friends. Regalyan had a crush on Cassandra, which he wasn't shy about hinting at. Although he and Cassandra weren't an official couple, they did have a close bond.

Cassandra noticed Regalyan, so she pointed her sword in the air and asked, "What do you think of it?"

Regalyan took a closer look at it and said, "It's shiny, but most of all, it's dangerous."

Cassandra replied, "I like that. I like living a dangerous lifestyle, in general."

Regalyan responded, "Believe me, I've noticed."

Cassandra looked at him and asked, "Have you been working out?"

Regalyan had a proud smile on his face, while saying, "Indeed I have. I've been working out, five days a week."

Cassandra smirked, folded her arms, and replied, "No offense, but you haven't been doing that great of a job."

Regalyan asked, "What are you talking about? I look like the most muscle-filled hunk, that this kingdom has ever seen."

Cassandra rolled her eyes and said, "Look at your muscles and you'll see they're not as big as they should be."

Regalyan looked down and realized his muscles did look a little said. He sighed and said, "My exercise didn't pay off."

Cassandra looked at the clock and noticed Regalyan was visiting her at an earlier time, than usual. Because of that, she figured that something was up. She looked at him and said, "Something's big has happened, hasn't it?"

Regalyan nervously scratched his neck and replied, "You could say that. I tried to distract you, with lack of muscle, so you'd be less tense when the main topic was brought up."

Cassandra asked, "Are you going to start sharing the news with me?"

Regalyan took a long pause, before sighing and saying, "Very well then." He really didn't feel like giving Cassandra this piece of news, because he was scared about how she'd react to it. He said, "The kingdom has decided to make a different knight be the leader, for now."

Cassandra asked, "What?!"

Regalyan stuck his arms in the air, while hoping he could be the peacekeeper. He nervously started shaking, while saying, "Everything's going to be cool. It's not going to be a permanent position or anything like that."

Cassandra didn't want to be rude, but it was hard to not be offended. After all, she had saved the kingdom more times than knight ever has and she was being demoted. She stormed out of the room.

Regalyan tried to follow her, but he struggled to walk as fast as her. He whispered, "I don't think this is going to end well."

Cassandra walked up to Beatrix, one of the heads of the kingdom and Alte, one of the top knights. She said, "Beatrix, you know me, so you know I mean no disrespect. However, I feel the highest level of confusion, over you demoting me."

Beatrix tried to look friendly, while saying, "Cassandra, you shouldn't be offended. It's a temporary thing. We think another knight deserves to be at the top."

Alte said, "Personally, I think Beatrix's idea is very admirable and progressive. We should have more respect and admiration, for the things that come out of her head."

Cassandra raised an eyebrow and asked, "Are you the one, who's getting the promotion?"

Alte nervously chuckled and replied, "I wish I was, but I'm afraid Beatrix has made a different choice. Well, I'm not really afraid, because she always makes the smartest decisions." Cassandra could tell what Alte was doing. He was trying to compliment every little thing, that Beatrix said, in order to get promoted. She thought his efforts were petty, at best.

A knight, named Martel, walked by. He tried to have a stern, brave, but kind demeanor. He stuck his hand out and said, "I'm Martel, the new leader of the guards."

Cassandra shook his hand. If Beatrix had so much trust in him, Cassandra wanted to be respectful and open-minded. Deep down, she thought she had grown a bit of an ego, considering how stubborn she was, to let anybody else become the leader of the guards. Sometimes, she wondered if her reason for wanting to keep that position, was because of a desire for power. However, there was a tiny, but accurate part of her that knew the truth. She wanted to remain the leader of the guards, so she could continue saving others, in the most helpful ways possible.

Cassandra looked at Martel and said, "It's nice to meet you. Have you been a guard before?"

Martel replied, "You could say that. I'm not the type of person, who likes sharing tons of details. However, I guarantee to take this job seriously and be the best possible guard. There's not a single thing to worry about, at least not anymore."

Cassandra said, "I used to be the leader of the knights. Since that position is now yours, I'm willing to serve your commands and assist you."

Martel replied, "I'm glad to hear that. There's nothing I need from you, at the present time. I have a lot to work on, so I won't be able to do much talking. You should go to your room or something."

Cassandra responded, "Okay, but I'll see you at night."

Martel asked, "At night? Why would you see me then?"

Cassandra answered, "Because I often guard during the nights."

Martel replied, "That's admirable of you, but you don't have to do that anymore. Since I'm the leader of the guards, there wouldn't be a single need, to have you guard the night sky."

Cassandra felt that night-guarding was one of her most important duties. Because of that, she said, "I don't mean to impose on your decisions, but I believe I should do some night-guarding."

Martel shook his head and replied, "No, I don't want you to do that. Go to your room and do some resting. I've already met you and I can tell you need it."

Cassandra responded, "Okay then." She touched her forehead, while wondering if she really was so tired, that Martel could she needed a nap. She shrugged her shoulders and started walking to her room.

A few hours later, most of the kingdom's residents were asleep. Martel went into the training room. He grabbed a communicator and used it to contact his boss, Frenic. Frenic was an evil mastermind, who to take over Cassandra's kingdom and several other kingdom. He had hired Martel, to pretended to be a respectable and trustworthy guard, so he could get permission to get into the kingdom and get rid of the other knights.

Frenic asked, "How has your progress been going?"

Martel had a smug smile on his face, while saying, "Better than I could of ever imagined. You won't believe what happened?"

Frenic evilly smiled and replied, "You've already captivated my interest. What happened?" Regalyan walked into the room, to give Martel some snacks. He hid in a corner and listened to Martel's conversation.

Martel responded, "I got permission to go into the kingdom. After talking to one of the heads of the kingdom and making up a few lies, I got promoted to the leader of the knights."

Frenic replied, "Wow, I can't believe they'd make such a stupid decision."

Martel responded, "Cassandra has been the top knight for so long, that they became desperate, to change things up."

Frenic replied, "Considering how slow in the head our opponents are, it should be easy to take over the kingdom. Where is Cassandra?"

Martel responded, "She's in her room. I ordered her, to take a nap."

Frenic replied, "Excellent plan. Go into her room and destroy her, while she's sleeping." Regalyan ran out of the room and started running to Cassandra's room.

Martel responded, "That was already my plan. In a few days, all of this kingdom's residents will be gone and you'll be in charge."

Frenic had an evil smile on his face, while saying, "I couldn't ask for anything better."

Martel looked around and saw a tray of snacks. He said, "Something weird happened."

Frenic asked, "What's going on?"

Martel answered, "There's a tray of snacks here, that wasn't here earlier."

Frenic replied, "Somebody probably overheard you. You better hurry and get rid of Cassandra." Martel nodded and started running out of the room.

Cassandra's room was locked, so Regalyan started pounding on the door. Cassandra got out of bed and opened the door. She looked at Regalyan and asked, "Why did you wake me up?"

Regalyan answered, "Martel isn't a good knight. He was hired by Frenic, to get rid of you."

Cassandra looked surprised, while asking, "Really?"

Regalyan nervously said, "Yes, we need to do some quick thinking."

Cassandra started closing the door, while saying, "Excuse me, I have to change first."

Regalyan replied, "No offense, but are you kidding me? This isn't a time for fashion."

Cassandra pointed to the pajamas she was wearing and said, "I can't fight crime in pajamas."

Regalyan replied, "I had a fight in a Dr. Eggman costume, so anything's possible."

Cassandra said, "No offense, but are you kidding me? This isn't a time for jokes."

Regalyan replied, "That's a point, that I couldn't argue with." Casandra quickly got changed into her armor.

A few seconds after Cassandra finished getting ready, Martel burst into the room and said, "I'm going to get rid of you."

Regalyan jokingly replied, "Talk about a knight in shining armor."

Martel pointed his sword at Cassandra and said, "She's about to become a knight in dead armor."

Regalyan replied, "If you got rid of her, she's be dead, not the armor."

Martel started pointing his sword at Regalyan and responded, "Maybe I should get rid of you first, joke boy."

Cassandra didn't want anything bad to happen to Regalyan, so she quickly jumped into action and started fighting Martel. The two of them battled each other, with their swords. Martel said, "You should give up. I'm the leader of the knights. Your strength, skills, and accomplishments are nothing, compared to my own."

Cassandra asked, "Are you kidding me? You don't have the skills needed, to be the leader of the knights." She pointed to Martel's sword and said, "The way you swing that is incredibly sloppy. Your sword-moves are jarring and mediocre."

Martel replied, "You shouldn't be mocking me. I'm the one, who's going to get rid of you."

Cassandra responded, "Yeah right. There's a lot of people, who've made inaccurate guesses and you made the most inaccurate of them all." She jumped in the air and said, "Prepare to face the wrath of justice." She was so good at using her sword, that she was able to use her sword, to break Martel's sword in half.

Martel was angry and surprised, that his sword got broken in half. However, he stubbornly said, "I'm still going to get rid of you. I'll use my strength, to get the job done."

Cassandra replied, "I don't think so. You don't have the strength, to make that happen."

Martel had a smug smile on his face, while saying, "You're incredibly wrong about that. I'm the world's most powerful knight."

Cassandra confidently replied, "No you're not."

Martel started punching and kicking Cassandra. His fight moves were nothing, compared to Cassandra's awesome moves. She jumped in the air, kicked Martel across the room, and flung him to the ground. The two of them kept battling each other. Although Martel claimed to be the strongest knight of them all, Cassandra showed him who's boss. Martel fell to the ground.

During Cassandra's and Martel's fight, Regalyan had been explaining Martel's crimes, to the heads of the kingdom. Because of that, some guards came by and arrested Martel.

Regalyan looked at Cassandra and said, "I couldn't be more proud of you. You're not just the leader of the knights. You're the greatest knight, in general."

Cassandra hugged Regalyan and replied, "Thank you. I couldn't ask for a better partner, in this game of good vs. evil." Regalyan blushed.

The next day, the heads of the kingdom gave Cassandra her title back and Beatrix apologized, for trying to have her demoted. Although Cassandra was excited about getting her job back, the things that made her the most happy, is that her home was safer than ever before.


End file.
